Cutting Remarks
IC Time on Earth: Tue Dec 10 20:20:56 2034 Split-Arrow Trail(#11909Rnt) - Manganese Mountain Range The Manganese Mountains are, at first glance, silver-hued granite stretching high over the small valleys in between. The flat terrain, if you can find it, is made up of clustered bubble-like metal, uneven and varied, with a faint rainbow sheen. There is the occasional grove of antler-like crystalline formations, thin enough to walk through but bunched just so there is some kind of canopy. Lilleths roost on the thick branches, their bizarre trills heard throughout the mountain range. Contents: Air Raid Obvious exits: West leads to Ranger Station. South leads to Abandoned Campsite. Sky Lynx may have sent his (possibly made up) Third Air Strike but other Autobot officials thought it best to send a few more soldiers. And while the neutrals around here know the range backwards and forward, everyone's rather suspicious of one another as it stands, so Air Raid has been sent out with a partner to make a small perimeter of a certain section. Blades was his last choice but somehow only choice. The jet remains pretty damn quiet as they walk the trail, rifle on his shoulder. Blades doesn't have too much of an opinion about this assignment! Most of his work is boring, but someone has to do it, so Blades does it. Eventually, he'll be back at the Protectobot station, and he'll be able to complain about it to Groove, who won't even be paying attention. This is life. Here in the now, Blades is in the zone, looking for Decepticons. He doesn't say much to Air Raid. There's a lot to look at, but no obvious 'cons. Some fantastical bird-like mechanoid or two, with crests that fan and glow. A distant, eerie yelp earns Air Raid's glance, but it's the fourth one they've heard, and it's not getting any closer. Eventually, Air Raid speaks up, casting a sidelong look at Blades, "Why d'ya' like stabbin' so much?" Said aloud, he realizes how dumb it sounds and clarifies, "I mean... it's like some weird romance for you. At least it looks that way!" Blades looks over at Air Raid, tilting his head to give his face a questioning cast. He wonders if someone put Air Raid up to this. After a moment, Blades asks, "Why do you want to know? The answer doesn't change, mind." It's not like Blades is going to lie to Air Raid, but he may be less graphic, depending. Air Raid grunts. "I don't know, because I'm bored and the rest of my team is off doing /fun/ stuff I'm sure. Also..." He tilts the rifle on his shoulder and nudges Blades' head with the gunstock. "I kinda' wanna' believe it has something to do with you being ex-con. Maybe it's something that stuck to ya'," he smirks. Blades corrects, "This is important." Blades himself may be bored, but slag it, Air Raid doesn't get to whine if Blades doesn't! And Blades isn't going to whine in front of Air Raid. Air Raid's lack of weapon safety is irritating, and Blades decides it is time for an object lession. He lunges for Air Raid's hand, and he tries to bend Air Raid's thumb back hard enough to get the gun away from him. He growls, "Weapon safety, idiot! You want to think it's because I'm ex-con, do you? Then why bother asking me?" Combat: Blades sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Blades misses Air Raid with his Grab attack! Combat: Gained 4 energon. Like a shark detecting blood, Air Raid's face splits into a grin. Blades is angry. But maybe more over weapon safety. Blades manages to bend his thumb enough to make him wince, but doesn't get further than that as the jet dances out of reach. "Sorry Blades, I'm not taking safety tips from some stab-happy chopper. And yeah, I /think/, but I don't know. Enlighten me, yeah?" Blades knows lots about safety tips! He's been in so many PSAs! Some of them, he was even awake! He snaps, "Fine, let's see /you/ successfully escape from a burning building with paraplegic Autobot, if you know so much about safety!" Yeah, Blades is seething now. Air Raid probably needs to prompt him to get back on topic. Air Raid is momentarily thwarted by talk of safety. Blades is draining the fun out of this. He squints at him and turns to continue down the trail. "I don't know jack about safety, pal. And who cares. We're warriors aren't we? What's /your/ function, safety cone?" He stops and turns to face him, looking annoyed. "Why'd you leave? Didn't you... fit in?" "*I* care about safety. Protectobot? Hello?" Blades snaps, "And my /function/ is /air support/," which is no way sheds any light on Blades's strange fascination with cutting people. "Ugh, I want to rat you out to Hot Spot. He'll be so sad. For about 5 seconds. And then he'll sit you down to read pamplets and watch PSAs, and he'll get really excited about education." "Anyway, I was sick of murdering innocent people, and Optimus Prime seemed to think that was a pretty good excuse." "Tch. You must've joined the Combaticons for a reason, right? That didn't involve killing innocents." Air Raid keeps his thoughts of Optimus to himself, decidedly. He debates using the opportunity to gloat about having a better combiner leader but... Well. Hot Spot is pretty cool, and also powder blue. "Don't you miss it? I see it come outta' ya'. Sometimes! It's crazy to watch." "I don't miss killing /innocent/ people," Blades says firmly, walking along and pausing to look in the direction of some strange hooting. "Anyway, the Combaticons paid good money, and I was doing what I was built to do." Air Raid grumbles. Blades is too cool-headed to goad into blurting anything more interesting, at least it seems that way. "Whatever," he huffs. "Crazy slaggerRAHH!" A sudden -CRACK- rattles the delicate "trees" around them, as some high-tech foothold trap snaps its wicked metallic jaws around Air Raid's shin. "ARGH! GET IT OFF!" he yelps, instinctively jumping up to transform and fly awayyyy - only to get yanked back down by the energized chain tethering it to the ground. Blades has already implied plenty, though! He sort of stands back and watches as Air Raid manages to get himself stuck in a trap. First, he surveys the scene. Are there any other traps around? One of the rules of being a first responder is never to charge in. Blades has to make sure that the scene is safe, first. Becoming a second victim is never good. Cautiously, Blades approaches, not /seeing/ anything. He puts his hands up and urges, "Okay, don't panic, Air Raid." "It's these fraggin' Kowentide savages! Why can't they just hunt with GUNS!" Air Raid writhes on the ground, clawing uselessly as his bleeding leg. "I'm not panicked!" he snaps, voice a little high. There doesn't seem to be any other traps around. "Shoot it, just shoot it!" As if there's anything to shoot. Air Raid is not a very good listener, and continues to try to get up and tug himself free, only to fall flat again. Blades tries to not stare at Air Raid's leaking leg, but it's hard. He points out, "Because trap-setting multiplies your manpower. One bot can only cover so much ground. I am *not* shooting the trap. I'd probably hit you, and then the Kowentides would be mad at me for breaking their trap. Just calm down, stop struggling, and I'll get you out of it." He crouches down near Air Raid, trying to figure out how to get Air Raid out of this. Air Raid really, really does not like being unable to fly. It's the T-cog thing all over again. But he does heed Blades, eventually, and resigns to sitting with the most sour look on his face. "Frag this fragging forest and its fragging neutrals," he moans, clutching his energon-soaked limb. "FRAG EVERYTHING!" Blades will find something like a release latch on the side of the device. Blades is sort of gawking at Air Raid's leaking, but he fumbles around and manages to find the latch. Provided he can get the trap off Air Raid, he tries to put it off to the side, where it can trap someone else who is unwary! Then he turns back to Air Raid. Who is still leaking. "Uhm. I'm not a medic. What is your internal systems report saying?" Air Raid tilts his head back with relief when the incessant biting stops. "Guhhhh..." He waves Blades off. "No... Don't bother." It's then that he realizes the gawking. "What? ...Weirdo." Carefully getting back to one foot, he vents a heavy sigh, gazing down the trail. "Th'... Thanks. You can keep going ahead but I don't think it'd be a good idea. I'm heading back. Assuming I don't bleed to death on the way." Blades offers Air Raid a hand up and a shoulder to lean on, and he admits, "There's more than a few things wrong with me, but let's get you back to base. No one's dying here. Want me to radio in?" Air Raid is not feeling particularly cheery enough to jest, but he does nudge Blades with an elbow, "So you admit it. But hey we all have stuff that's wrong with us. Sure, radio I guess. Aren't you air support? Carry me," he ends up joking anyway, "I only weigh forty thousand pounds." "Keep this up, and I'll think you like looking at my undercarriage," Blades mutters. He transforms into a helicopter, hovers up, and drops a tow rope. "Anyway. I like energon splashing on me? That's why I like cutting. Guns just feel... cowardly, to me? But they're useful, I can't deny that. Just unsatisfying." That answers that question. And raises so many more. Blades transforms into his Bell UH-1V Iroquois mode.